Want to Fight
by Lock Owl
Summary: The X-Men encounter a very unusual mutant, one they see as far too young for the power she's been given. But what is youth? And who says
1. Default Chapter

Title: Want to Fight  
  
Rating: PG-13 (for safety)  
  
Series: Movie-verse  
  
Summary: The X-Men encounter a very unusual mutant, one they see as far too young for the power she's been given. But what is youth? And who says "children" can't have beliefs as strong as, say, Magneto?  
  
Chapter One: Venturing to Trust Someone  
  
*****  
  
She knew how mob mentality worked. She knew that by the third shout, all her hope was gone. 'Powers, use your powers!' she told herself, but she couldn't. Her powers were not as finely tuned as she would have liked, and to use them now was practically suicide.  
  
She ran on, feet pounding through the mud, water beating down from the sky. A drop fell to her hand and she screamed in pain but kept on going.  
  
'The junior high school,' she thought, 'a million places to hide.' But the idea alone frightened her. Hiding? No. She would have to lose the mob, one way or another. The mob was shouting dirty names at her, waving torches and pitchforks. 'Just like medieval days,' she thought cynically. 'My, how they've evolved!'  
  
The rain was picking up, wind blasting her backwards, but she fought hard against it. Just as she was approaching the public junior high school, a red brick building, her foot caught under a root, and she stumbled. She bit her lip to keep from shouting as she felt the bones try to pull apart; luckily the bones failed, but the ankle was hurt.  
  
'No, I have to keep going, I will not die here tonight,' she told herself. The rain assaulted her vision, and she tumbled. This was it, the end. She hugged the ragged bear close to her chest, closed her eyes tight, and prepared for a lot of pain.  
  
No pain came, just a very cold feeling, and a flash of red through her eyelids. When she dared to look around, the mob had gone. Two people stood nearby, a man and a woman, similarly dressed entirely in black. The man was watching the last of the mob disperse, but the woman was gazing right at her.  
  
"P-please," she stammered, "don't hurt me."  
  
"We don't want to hurt you," the woman said gently, and the girl almost believed her. The woman extended her hand. Considering her options, the girl realized that she would be dead before the week was out living on the streets. Venturing to trust someone, the girl stood, but did not take the woman's hand.  
  
With both the man and the woman looking at her, the girl felt out of place. She hugged the bear closer, one well-chewed ear slipping into her mouth as a familiar comfort. The looks she knew she was getting said she was too old for that sort of thing, but she didn't care, she didn't feel old or big.  
  
She felt small. And weak. And hunted. 


	2. Chapter II

Want to Fight, Chapter Two  
  
Berserker Rage X-Girl: Very cinematic lingo.  
  
Chaos: Thank you.  
  
Heather-04: It is not at all sad to count down days until movies come out. It only means the companies have done a good job of selling their films, or the originals were good.  
  
Daydream: Thank you.  
  
Thanks to everyone who took the time to review! Oh, and I know there was a fifth review, but it hasn't shown up yet, so I'll respond to it next chapter.  
  
*****  
  
"This won't hurt much, just hold still a minute."  
  
Doctor Jean Grey reached for the small girl's arm, a syringe ready to inject. For a moment the temperature seemed to rise, and Jean wondered why she was so nervous all of the sudden. She was just pressing the tip of the syringe to the girl's flesh when her arm shot out, throwing back Jean's wrist. "No!" the girl cried out as the syringe clattered on the floor.  
  
Jean grabbed her wrist, slowly unwrapping her fingers to see a blister forming on her skin . "You don't like needles?" she asked. The girl shook her head. "Do you have a name?"  
  
"My name was Aurora Nova," she said quietly.  
  
"Was?" Jean couldn't help but inquire. Surely she did not mean that she had had her name changed?  
  
"They took it," she said cryptically.  
  
"Is it all right if I call you Aurora?"  
  
"They would be angry," she said. A small smile played on her lips. "Go ahead," she added.  
  
Jean was somewhat confused by this, and a bit disturbed by the girl's eerie tone, but she decided not to bring it up. "How old are you, Aurora?"  
  
"Thirteen," she said. "Tomorrow." Her voice sounded not strained but quiet, as if she was not used to speaking louder. Aurora had not been at the school long; earlier she had found a nice corner to fall asleep in. Ororo (lucky, Jean reflected later, that the two were spelled different) and Jean had found a dorm where Aurora could stay, with girls her own age (or close to it).  
  
"Would you like to go and get acquainted with some of the other students?" Jean asked.  
  
Aurora nodded. "That would be nice," she said. Aurora followed Jean to the ground level, then to the cafeteria. She covered her ears at the sudden noise, then pulled down her hands. She heard Jean call out, something that might have been a nickname, then another girl, about seventeen, approached them.  
  
"Yes?" she asked, with a Southern accent.  
  
"This is Aurora, would you mind showing her around?"  
  
"Not at all," the older girl replied.  
  
"Good. Thanks. Aurora, this is Marie. Marie, Aurora."  
  
When Jean had left the two stood awkwardly, not sure what to do. "What's the weather like today?" Aurora whispered. "Has the rain stopped?"  
  
Marie nodded. "It has. It's really sunny today, you want to go outside?"  
  
"Yes, please," Aurora whispered. Marie took her hand and led her out. As soon as they were out in the sunshine Aurora tilted her face skyward, and her hood, until now a seemingly permanent accessory, fell back. Brown hair streaked naturally with blonde fell out of the hood, watery blue eyes gazing as if unseeing.  
  
"You're blind, aren't you?" Marie worked up the courage to ask.  
  
"Sometimes," Aurora confirmed. "My powers make me this way."  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
Short chapter, I know. Sorry, I'll try to make the next one longer. 


	3. Chapter III

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I do not own any recognizable characters and places. Aurora Nova and the girls in her dorm are characters of my own creation.  
  
Don'tgottanameyet: It's PG-13 for some disturbing bits in later chapters, some depressing philosophy. And just for safety.  
  
Anna: The reason there's so little visual description is that the character is blind. It's told from her perspective in third person, if that makes sense.  
  
Tigereyes: Better get some rope, I'm quite fond of cliffhangers! Lol  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It was nice to hear from you! Sorry this chapter took so long!  
  
*****  
  
Aurora's hands moved quickly, crafting with extreme perfection and haste. The other girls who shared a dormitory with her had not noticed at first, now it seemed impossible for them to look away. How could someone so. . .impaired do something like that? They feared that she would be hurt, yet her hands moved with knowledge in them.  
  
"How can you do that?" one girl asked her. "You can't even see. . ."  
  
"That doesn't matter," Aurora replied. "My mind can see." She placed her small knife by her leg and held up the small, carved piece of wood. "Can you see it?"  
  
The others nodded, then, realizing she could not see them, blushed and muttered in the affirmative.  
  
"I can see it, too. My hands can see it."  
  
*****  
  
"What are her powers?" Scott asked, confused. "You said she creates fire?"  
  
"No, nothing like it," Jean replied. The two sat in Jean's classroom, (as, of course, all the X-Men were teachers) discussing the new girl--Aurora Nova, Jean said. "There were no flames, no heat, really. Her skin came into contact with mine, after that I ha this blister."  
  
"Was she trying to hurt you?"  
  
Jean smiled slightly. He was such an overprotective boyfriend. "There were no violent intentions. She was frightened."  
  
"Of what?"  
  
"Needles," Jean replied. "I think she--yes?" She interrupted herself, noticing a student standing in the doorway.  
  
"I think I left my notebook in here. . ." Marie explained. Jean held up the composition book in question. Marie nodded, taking the book carefully. "Thanks." She headed out, then stopped, as if something had just occurred to her. "You were talking about her, weren't you?"  
  
"What makes you say that?" Scott asked. Jean sighed; the question was more of an affirmative than anything else; but it was more of a "how-cute" sigh than anything else.  
  
"All the students are," Marie said, more informing than responding. "They want to know what her powers, and how they stop her from seeing."  
  
"She's blind?"  
  
"I asked her. She told me 'sometimes'--everybody's curious about it. Do you know anything about her?"  
  
"No, but we know more, now that you've told us about her vision," Scott replied solemnly.  
  
*****  
  
"It's like a photographic memory," Aurora said. The girls had not stopped asking questions since earlier that evening, when they saw a blind girl carve a duck at super-speed. She began to say something, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.  
  
"Come in!" one of the girls called. Aurora knew the voice; it was Jane. Jane could move things with her mind, like Jean--Ms. Grey, they called her.  
  
The door opened. Someone was standing there, Aurora could tell--someone, probably a woman, only a few inches taller than most of the young teens in the dorm. "Lights out, girls. It's ten o'clock."  
  
There were a few groans and protest, but the girls went to their designated beds as the lights were shut off--Aurora could hear the footsteps, the click of the lightswitch, the door close. Footsteps down the hall, then sock-covered feet in the room. "Aurora," someone whispered.  
  
"Are you tired?"  
  
"Not very," she replied, sitting up. "Won't we be in trouble?"  
  
"Maybe the teeniest, tiniest bit," Claudia, a girl who could make herself or others appear invisible, replied. "They're pretty lenient about little stuff."  
  
"We wanted to ask you some questions," the psychic girl called Roxie said. Aurora could feel the bed move as the others adjust themselves so everyone could sit in a circle.  
  
"Where do you come from?" Mary asked. Mary had vocal powers, and frightening mastery over them. With effort, if she told you to walk off a cliff you'd do it. However, it was like hypnotism: most people do not want to walk off cliffs, therefore they would refuse Mary's orders just before they stepped to their dooms.  
  
"I don't want to say," Aurora said. After that, she answered every question the same way: she never wanted to say. She was not trying to be rude, but her life was her business. She did not want it flaunted about.  
  
Eventually the others gave up and retired, one by one, to their own beds. When all the others were asleep, Isobel, who had stopped asking questions as soon as Aurora's defenses were up, walked over to Aurora's bed. Lightly she touched Aurora's shoulder through the blanket. "They mean well," she whispered. "I didn't have it easy, either."  
  
Isobel's voice was the easiest to pick out of a crowd. Her accent was heavy, Southern and no question about it. Louisiana, she always said, was her point of origin. "Zero, zero," she would joke, pointing to a map or a globe. Then she would trace a line to New York, and joke, "You want to know the slope?"  
  
Aurora wanted to tell Isobel what had happened. She was just about to say something when Isobel's hand moved, and her scuffling feet returned to her bed.  
  
"I don't want to hurt anyone," Aurora admitted to the darkness.  
  
*****  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
Well, it's getting somewhere. Next chapter, would you rather learn what her powers are or would you rather she talked to Isobel and tells her why she's so defensive? 


	4. Chapter IV: Rapscallion

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters and/or places. Aurora Nova, her roommates, and Rapscallion are mine.  
  
ShadyLady: Maybe. . .I didn't really include either, because no one voted!  
  
Faith: That is more or less in this chapter, plus a newbie!  
  
Wertyleigh: Thanks, and yes  
  
Tigereyes: Oh, a challenge! Actually I don't really get it, but whatever!  
  
You guys are going to hate me for this chapter!  
  
*****  
  
Aurora shifted slightly. Not once had she used her powers today, so she had been able to see quite freely. It was strange, usually after extended use of vision her head began to throb, but not today. It was yet another thing to puzzle over, but not right now.  
  
She could not take her eyes off the girl across from her, a dark-haired, shady-eyed female who seemed not to care much for showers. Beside her sat the teen, Rogue, or Marie. Most of the students here showed blatant signs of their powers, like the boy who had antennae. Not so the strange, dark one.  
  
"So, why don't we all introduce ourselves?" Ms. Munroe suggested amiably.  
  
"Because we all already know each other?" suggested the dark girl.  
  
"Grace," Ms. Munroe replied in a calm voice, "we have a new student with us. Why don't you begin? Say your name and something important about yourself."  
  
This idea of 'Circle', or 'Group', as it was variably called, was not bad. Some of the more "troubled" students came together after class and, as far as Aurora could tell, sat in a circle on their desks, or in seats if they preferred.  
  
"My name is Rapscallion," the dark girl called Grace said, "and as far as I can gather, I'm rotten." Ms. Munroe sighed and gave her a reproving looking.  
  
"No code names," she corrected, though her tone held extra meaning to Grace.  
  
"My name is Grace," she muttered, "I like cricket." This seemed a great effort for her to admit, and she glanced at Marie, to her right.  
  
"Crickets?" someone asked. Grace seemed to know at once who had said this, and she glared at him. He shrank back, and she returned to her earlier position, composed, as though nothing had happened. What had happened? Aurora wondered.  
  
"My name is Marie," said Marie, "and I. . ."  
  
So things went on. No one seemed to be as unresponsive, as venomous, as Grace. Circle seemed a very well executed plan. The children seemed to really understand each other with the more relaxed environment. They did things that seemed like games, such as drawing things that were important to them (no one was forced to draw or to share) and talking about problems they were having with life in generally. When the clock ticked around to show the hour, Ms. Munroe dismissed them, asking Grace and Aurora to stay for a moment.  
  
"Grace," her infinite patience seemed to be wearing thin, "is there a reason you cannot cooperate? This is meant to help you, no one here wants to hurt you, do you not realize this?"  
  
Grace breathed heavily, but she did respond.  
  
"Very well. Perhaps you noticed Aurora? She's in your dormitory."  
  
I am? Aurora thought. I never noticed her. . .  
  
"Your assignment this week is to show her the ropes."  
  
"Ms. Munroe, that is completely--"  
  
"Grace, we have a deal," Ms. Munroe reminded her.  
  
"Hardly worth it," Grace mumbled. "All right, Aurora, come on. . ." she turned to leave. Aurora was unsure of what to do, so she followed Grace out into the hall. Grace wheeled around. "My name is Rapscallion," she said, "I don't like people."  
  
Aurora felt something she had not felt so uncontrolled in a long time: anger. "I didn't ask for this," she pointed out.  
  
"Neither did I, so shove off," Rapscallion said, shoving her way past Aurora, who stood for a moment, stunned, then she turned around to see Ms. Munroe watching her.  
  
"I apologize for her behavior," she said. "Grace hadn't a very easy time of things before. She is known for her hostility."  
  
"Oh," was all Aurora could think of to say. "She seems to listen to you. In Mr. Summers' class, she was not that cooperative, and she spoke out often."  
  
Ms. Munroe nodded. "Grace and Scott do not get on well. Aurora, I know that you are new here, but would you mind. . .perhaps not helping Grace, but watch her for me? I cannot be there all the time."  
  
"Of course," Aurora said with a nod. Something occurred to her. "You said that she and I are in the same dormitory, but I have not seen her before."  
  
"That would make sense. Grace has not been here for a week. No one really knows where she was."  
  
Aurora pondered this. The X-Men had been kind to her, more so than anyone else she could recall. She had no reason not to trust them. How could Grace be so cruel as to be so mean to people who did such good things? Did she have a conscience? 'I may as well find out,' Aurora thought. 'I will be watching her, after all.' 


	5. Chapter V

Disclaimer: I only own Aurora Nova and Rapscallion. Other than that, not mine.  
  
Tigereyes: I guess.  
  
The One and Only Trey: Aurora's powers--and Rapscallion's--will be explained. . .although maybe not for a while.  
  
Daydream Angel: She's only blind when she uses her power. And Grace is really strange, and seems antagonistic, but she's sort of. . .it's hard to explain. You'll see.  
  
Kalika Aryn: Thanks. Aurora is. . .hm. Well, she sees good in most people, but if she does not, she stops looking then and there, if you know what I mean.  
  
ShadyLady: Thanks!  
  
*****  
  
"So? I wasn't the only girl to fail that test," Rapscallion said, gesturing to the paper lying on the professor's desk.  
  
"Most of the other students," Xavier said, "showed some work, revealing their mistakes. Most of them did not write down random numbers and turn it in."  
  
Rapscallion shrugged. "I'm bad at chemistry," she replied. She knew why she was really here, and was just waiting for Xavier to get around to it. After this remark, she knew her time listening to the old man talk about how she "could do better" would be considerably longer. Oh, well. She had time. She had plenty of time.  
  
"If you would only apply yourself, you could easily pass this class. With powers such as yours, it would seem important that you do. . ." Xavier continued, but Rapscallion did not hear him. Why did she care what he thought? She hated him intensely, even more than she hated Jean and Scott. She didn't hate Ororo. "It seems I've kept you too long, you have class, do you not?"  
  
Rapscallion scoffed, then slung her bookbag over her shoulder. Class, yeah right. Therapy! Woohoo! She trudged down the corridor, not bothering to knock before entering Ms. Munroe's classroom. The session had already begun, and everybody looked up as she entered. "Sorry," she muttered, sitting on one of the desks.  
  
A boy named Artie raised his hand. Ms. Munroe motioned for him to speak, and he said, "I have a question I want to ask Grace." He looked for an affirmative, and when he got it he continued, "Do you think you are better than us?"  
  
"No," she replied.  
  
"Then why do you shut everyone out?" asked Marie. Aurora had spoken to Marie about Rapscallion, asking what the girl was like when she first arrived. "I don't know," Marie had said, "she was here before me." A month had passed. Aurora had had plenty of time to study Grace, who was in not only her dorm but also most of her classes. Grace was failing almost every class and was never in bed at lights-out. Why did she even stay?  
  
"Because," was the answer to Marie's question.  
  
"Why do you stay here if you hate it so much?" Aurora asked. She had lost the manner taught to her with uncanny swiftness, and was a normal teenage girl. She felt that she was almost ready to talk about it, even. Almost.  
  
"They make me," replied Rapscallion. There was some collective murmuring, and she added, "Isn't that right, Ms. Munroe? Isn't that true?"  
  
"I don't know what you are talking about," Ms. Munroe replied gently, shaking her head.  
  
"I tried to leave once, you know," Rapscallion was addressing the group again. "I got within ten feet of the gate with intention to leave and I passed out. The professor will not let me leave. And I would bet it's because he's afraid of me, afraid of what I would do if I joined this Magneto. Because I've seen how ugly humanity can be, and guess what? I don't love them like all of you try to. I hate them."  
  
"So you would join Magneto?" it was a boy, about fifteen, Aurora didn't know his name. When Rapscallion replied, her voice was calmer.  
  
"No. They cannot help what they are, and what they are told to believe. I may hate them, but I would not destroy them. That's what they want to do to us. If it's wrong for them to destroy us, it's wrong for us to destroy them. Can I ask everyone else a question now?"  
  
"All right," Ms. Munroe said warily.  
  
"If I changed, if I were nicer, would you ever forgive me and accept me?" she waited for a moment, letting this sink in, then she got up and left the room in silence. It was a long time before anyone spoke again.  
  
"Would you ever change?" Aurora asked at last. The group burst into applause.  
  
"Aurora," Ms. Munroe said, "why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? We really hardly know anything about you." It was obvious what she was trying to do: she wanted to put Aurora on the spot, show her that everybody is sensitive to something. Aurora thought that, in truth, this was a good opportunity for her to do just that.  
  
"I was locked up for a year," she said, "in a laboratory. When the people in the town near the laboratory found out that mutants were being kept there, never mind that we were just the Rats of NIMH to them, they stormed the laboratory. As far as I know, I'm the only one that made it out alive. That's when I came here." It had been easier than she had suspected, because in her mind Aurora knew and accepted all of this. Saying it out loud did not make it any more or less real. It just made Aurora feel as though a weight had been removed from her shoulders. 


	6. Chapter VI

Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable  
  
Becki: Hehehe. Thanks! I'll try to hurry, this fic is near to being completed.  
  
The One and Only Trey: All right, all right! Powers revealed in this chapter!  
  
ShadyLady: They do. Too bad Wolvie's not there, or the ending might be different. Oh, well.  
  
Kalika Aryn: You'll be surprised. . .I wrote the character, so I know what you mean, but I also know what's behind them.  
  
Author's Note: All right! I think this story is nearing completion!! Only four or so more chapters.  
  
*****  
  
Ororo Munroe looked at the stack of papers on her desk and sighed. Grading papers, it was the worst part of being a teacher, and she was already quite tired as it was. Why did Circle have to be so draining? It was meant as a good thing, and many of the students saw it that way, but Ororo was beginning to dislike it.  
  
"It's Grace, isn't it?" Ororo looked up to see Jean Grey standing in the doorway. "You do so much for her. Give it up, Ororo. She is beyond hope," said Jean, walking to her friend's desk and laying a hand on her shoulder with a sympathetic air.  
  
"Not quite," said Ororo.  
  
"This is hurting you," Jean said angrily.  
  
"Jean, have you ever seen what is inside of that girl?" asked Ororo. Jean shook her head slowly. Of course she had not. "She is only afraid. It only takes a bit of faith in her--"  
  
"Look at what that has done though. She shows no signs of improvement."  
  
"Doesn't she?" Ororo opened a drawer of her desk and set it on top of the desk for Jean to view the contents. "These are things I have taken from my students for using during class, and these ones are Grace's." Ororo lifted out a pile of books and held them out to Jean.  
  
"Classics," Jean commented as she read the titles.  
  
"Well-worn classics," corrected Ororo. "They show the signs of being constantly in her hands. These are the beloved possessions of a frightened child. Look, would she be reading this if she believed herself without hope?" On that note Ororo selected a paperback copy of Little Men. "See how she's folded down this chapter?"  
  
"Whatever you say, Ororo. I still think you are looking too hard for any hope with this one," Jean said, putting the books down. "Spend your energy on the ones with a future, children like Marie and Aurora."  
  
"Aurora? I fear for her more than for Grace."  
  
****  
  
Meanwhile, the latter of the two girls being discussed was quite the center of attention. "Any liquid. Liquid is easiest, but I can do air and solid matter as well. Sometimes I loose control, but I have to work to initiate use of my power, and I pay the price for it. I used to have headaches whenever I didn't use my powers, but. . .I think that had something to do with the lab."  
  
"Can we see?" asked one eager listener. Aurora's eyes glinted.  
  
"Look over there," she said. Numerous pairs of eyes turned and watched as Rapscallion, sitting alone with headphones and a book, lifted her milk-- only to have it boil in her hands. The others quickly turned back inwards, gasping in admiration. Aurora, pleased, lifted her own drink--only to find the cup changing form, cutting painfully into her hands. She cried out and dropped the shifting cup, turning to see Grace standing behind her.  
  
"Do it," said Rapscallion. "Boil my blood. Do it, I dare you. You know you can. Kill me. Do it." When nothing happened for many minutes she scoffed and walked away. 


End file.
